Donald Rickter – 1999 NESACS Chair
Donald “Don” Rickter died recently.
From his Boston Globe and Legacy.com obituary: “He was an inventor, a scientist, a questioner, a meditator, a memoirist, a husband and a father. He was born in Rio Dell, CA, on May 5, 1931, to Wealthy and Oscar Rickter and grew up on a ranch in Yolo County with few books and fewer outlets for his intelligence. As a kid, Don mailed a penny postcard to answer a math puzzle in a magazine, from this, he gained a mentor, who encouraged him to seek higher education. He got his bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and his PhD in Chemistry from Michigan State. Polaroid was lucky to have him first as a chemist (where he was awarded four patents) and then as an information scientist. He spent 1957-58 in the Navy, stationed in San Francisco, where he met the love of his life, Phyllis. Don’s favorite pastimes were dreaming of new ways to do things (he submitted a design to replace the outdated Massachusetts flag; he is credited with proposing gender-neutral pronouns in the 1970s) and wanting to right wrongs in the world. He collected political buttons throughout his life and delighted in finding ones to express his views on any given day. He was devoted to his wife of over 60 years, Phyllis Carlson Rickter, who died in 2019. They had two sons, David Rickter Rain (Anna) and Paul Carlson Rickter (Ellen). His grandchildren, Avery, Lydia, Callen, Jasper; and great-grandchild, Sylvie are proud to carry on his best qualities. Family and friends will gather to honor and remember Donald at his Memorial Service on Saturday, September 7, 2024, at 2:30 p.m., at the Arlington Street Church, 351 Boylston Street, Boston, MA. To share a memory or offer a condolence, visit www.concordfuneral.com“
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/donald-rickter-obituary?id=56090303
At NESACS, Don was known as Chair (1999) and Henry Hill Award recipient (2004) and much more. He was featured on page 4 of the October 2004 issue of the Nucleus: https://www.nesacs.org/pub_nucleus/2004/Oct04.pdf
